Triggers close regular season, prepare for playoffs

by David Tesitor
TRINIDAD, SANTA FE — The Trinidad Triggers officially clinched the Northern Division of the Pecos league with a 12-4 win over the Fuego last Wednesday after an impressive victory at Fort Macey Park.  
The Triggers championship was never in doubt as they needed only one win out of a six- game home stand to clinch the title.  
The title came in their first night in Santa Fe.  A dominating seven-run explosion in the second inning propelled Trinidad to their victory.  The Triggers scored in the second inning off a two-run double by Luc Pomales, a groundout by Richie Anderson, an RBI single by Shane Casey, and a three-run home run by Eric Williams.  Brian Frazier racked up two RBIs on three hits for the Trinidad Triggers.  He singled in the second and third innings and homered in the fourth inning.  
On the mound was Daniel Karasinski who brought the heat against the Fuego during his outing.  Karasinski held Santa Fe hitless over two innings, allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out one.  
It was a good day at the plate for Santa Fe hitter Kevin Wirth.  Wirth went 2-4, drove in one and scored one run. He singled in the third inning and homered in the eighth inning. 
Richie Anderson improved to 5-3 on the year by picking up the win for the Trinidad Triggers. He allowed three runs over five innings.  He struck out six, walked three and surrendered seven hits.  Derrek Justice was charged with his first loss of the year.  He allowed seven runs in 1 2⁄3 innings, walked two and struck out three.
On Thursday, more delays caused the cancellation of the regularly scheduled game, only this time it came from sinkholes developing in the field.  According to team general manager Yvonne Encinias, “the problem appears to have resulted from some kind of plumbing malfunction in the field’s irrigation system.  It could be just be the way we dealt with some of the moisture.  There has been just so much,” she says.  The holes created a danger for the players.  
It was business as usual Friday when the Trigger’s power hitter Brian Frazier helped carry the Triggers to a 15-4 victory over the Fuego.  Frazier went 2-5 in the game with four RBIs and two runs scored.  Frazier homered in the first inning. Trinidad continued to pile on the runs until the end of the game. The Trinidad Triggers scored three runs in the final three innings to cap the blowout win.  A two-run double by Caleb Bryson and a two-run home run by Frazier helped the Trinidad Triggers score four runs in the first. The Trinidad Triggers had five hits in the inning. 
Joe Robinson brought the heat against the Santa Fe Fuego during his outing.  Robinson held the Santa Fe Fuego hitless over one inning, allowed no earned runs, walked none and struck out three. Chris Cummins got the win, running his season record to 3-0.  He allowed three runs over five innings. He struck out nine, walked none and surrendered nine hits.  Dalton Bernardi (1-1) took the loss for the Santa Fe Fuego. He allowed seven runs in one inning, walked two and struck out one. The Trinidad Triggers easily handled the Santa Fe Fuego pitching as six hitters combined for 12 hits, 14 RBIs and 12 runs scored. 
One interesting note was that the players bet team skipper Royce Holder if they scored 15 runs in the game he needed to dye his white beard black.  They did and Holder appeared the next night sporting a new look.  Perhaps, he should have bet them if they were shut out, he could dye it back because the next night Trinidad lost 11-0.  Francisco Rodriquez was credited with the shut out, striking out 14 Triggers and giving up only four hits.  
With Monday’s game remaining in the regular season, the only benefit the Triggers and Fuego had to battle for was the batting and home run titles.  Going into the final two games, Fuego Chevas Numata had 29 homers compared to Caleb Bryson.  Williams won the hitting title with a .467. Second place was Derrick Fox and Shane Casey finished third at .431. 
In the homerun catagory, the title was settled as Bryson added two more homeruns to finish at 30. Unfortunately, Numata hit three homers to take the homerun title.
The Triggers began their playoff action in Santa Fe last night and continued through tonight. (see our Facebook page for the stories.)  The team returns to Trinidad for the final three games.  Be sure to follow our Facebook links for more details and specials.